Terms of Use & Privacy Policy

Terms of Use for the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships Web Site

(As of August 2014)

By using the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (“NEEP”) Web Site (the “Site”), you, and any party for whom you may be acting as an agent, are agreeing to the following terms and conditions (“Terms of Use”). These Terms of Use shall constitute an agreement (the “Agreement”) between you and NEEP governing your use of the Site. Please read these Terms of Use carefully before using the Site. By using the Site you represent and warrant that you have read, understand, have the legal capacity, and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use.

Changes to this Agreement

NEEP reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change, modify or otherwise alter these Terms of Use at any time, and without direct notification. It will post the most recent version of these Terms of Use on the Site with a date indicating when changes were last made. Any modifications shall become effective immediately upon the posting thereof. Please check for updates each time you use the Site to keep apprised of any changes. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of modifications will constitute your acceptance of the revised Terms of Use.

Consent to Communications

If you choose to provide personal details on the Site, you understand and agree that NEEP may send you e-mail communications or data regarding your use of the Site, violations of such use, and/or promotional information and materials regarding NEEP. To the extent such communication concerns an offer or solicitation by NEEP, it will provide opt-out instructions. NEEP reserves the right to communicate by e-mail or otherwise, with you or your representative.

User Conduct

You agree that you will not use the Site in any way that violates applicable federal, state, local or international law, or for any unlawful purpose. You will not post on the Site any materials that are inappropriate or violate the intellectual property rights of others.

You hereby represent and warrant that you have all necessary rights in and to all content and information you provide. By posting content you agree to grant an irrevocable, royalty-free license to NEEP to use, display, publish, exhibit, distribute, reproduce, share and provide public access to such content. You expressly agree that NEEP may alter, edit or modify the content if in NEEP’s sole discretion such changes would enhance or be beneficial to the Site. You agree to waive all rights of privacy, publicity, and defamation in and relating to the posted content.

Content posted by users generally will not be reviewed by NEEP. NEEP shall have the right, but not the obligation, to reject, refuse to post, or otherwise monitor all content input by users, and may remove any content that is inappropriate or that potentially infringes on the intellectual property rights of another party or violates these Terms of Use or the law. All use of user data is governed by NEEP’s Privacy Policy, available at www.neep.org. You acknowledge and agree that NEEP shall not assume or have any liability for any action or inaction by NEEP with respect to any data, material, content or input entered by you into the Site.

NEEP reserves the right to terminate your access to and use of the Site if, in its sole discretion, your conduct violates any of the following prohibitions:

1. You may not attempt to harm, disrupt, or otherwise engage in activity that diminishes, the Site or NEEP’s computer systems and network.

2. You may not attempt to interfere with any other person’s or organization’s use of the Site.

3. You may not misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person.

4. You may not attempt to gain access to any account, computers or networks related to the Site without authorization.

5. You may not use the Site to submit any material protected by intellectual property laws unless you own or control the rights to such material or have received all necessary consents.

6. You may not attempt to modify, translate, adapt, edit, copy, decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer any software used or provided by NEEP in connection with the Site.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

NEEP expressly prohibits the use of the Site for the illegal transmission of copyrighted material, and will respond if notified by content owners to prevent copyrighted material from being transmitted via the Site. In addition, NEEP may disable individual accounts if these accounts are found to be illegally transferring copyrighted material.

If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide NEEP the written information specified below:

An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;

A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed upon;

A description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located;

Your address, telephone number, and e-mail address;

A statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;

A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

For these purposes, NEEP’s IT Manager can be reached at it@neep.org or the address noted on the Site.

Intellectual Property

NEEP is the exclusive owner (licensee) of all right, title and interest in the Content on its Site, “Content” means all trademarks, service marks, designs, texts, graphics, pictures, information, data, software, methods, inventions, sound files, articles, newsletters, reports, interactive applications, and compilations of material.

Nothing in these Terms of Use gives you any new rights to the use of any trade name, trademark, servicemark, logo, domain name, third party brand name, or other distinctive brand feature appearing on the Site.

You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access the Site in accordance with these Terms of Use. This license allows you to access and use the Site and to display, copy, print, and download the Content for personal, non-commercial use only, in accordance with these Terms and other rules and restrictions contained in the Site, provided you do not modify the Content and that you retain all copyright, trademark, and other proprietary notices contained in the Content. You may not use the Content for any other purpose without prior written permission of NEEP.

The foregoing limited license shall not be construed as conferring any right in any copyright or other intellectual property right in the NEEP software or Content, and shall terminate automatically if you breach any of these Terms of Use.

Third Parties

All transactions using the Site are between you and NEEP only. Although the Site links to third party web sites, NEEP is separate, independent and unrelated to any of these third parties, and has no involvement in, or responsibility for, any content on such web sites.

Privacy

NEEP has established a Privacy Policy to explain to users how their information is collected and used. You may view the Privacy Policy at www.neep.org. Your use of the Site signifies your acceptance of the Privacy Policy, which is subject to change at any time and without notice. You further acknowledge and agree that NEEP may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such disclosure is necessary to comply with legal obligations.

No Warranties

You expressly understand and agree that you use the Site at your sole risk and that the Site is provided "As Is" and “As Available.” NEEP does not represent or warrant that your use of the Site will (i) meet your requirements, or (ii) be uninterrupted, timely secure or free from error.

Any material downloaded or otherwise obtained through the use of the Site is done at your own discretion and risk, and you will be solely responsible for any damage to your computer system or other device or loss of data that results from the download of any such material. By using the Site you indicate your agreement that you will not hold NEEP accountable for any technical errors, including loss of files.

The Site is provided for informational purposes only, and NEEP makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information presented, that it is free from errors or omissions, or that it is exhaustive. NEEP expressly disclaims all warranties, including but not limited to, warranties as to the information’s quality, accuracy, completeness, fitness for a particular purpose, freedom from computer virus, or non-infringement of proprietary rights.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of certain warranties or conditions, so some of the above exclusions may not apply to you.

Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT WILL NEEP OR ANY OF ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF, BASED ON, OR RESULTING FROM THIS AGREEMENT OR YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE, EVEN IF NEEP OR ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OR AFFILIATES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATION ON SUCH DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE SITE FOR ANY REASON INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER, OR IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY PART OF THIS AGREEMENT OR NEEP’S PRIVACY POLICY, OR YOU HAVE ANY OTHER DISPUTE OR CLAIM WITH OR AGAINST NEEP OR THE SITE, THEN YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING THE SITE.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless, NEEP, its officers, directors, employees, members and affiliates, to, from and against all claims, losses, expenses, liabilities, damages, obligations and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising from (i) your use of the Site, (ii) any violation of this Agreement by you, or (iii) your violation of any third party right, including without limitation any copyright, property or privacy right.

Termination

NEEP may at any time and without notice, terminate its Agreement with you if: (a) you have breached any provision of these Terms of Use; (b) NEEP is required to do so by law; or (c), for any other reason, in NEEP’s sole discretion.

All provisions of this Agreement which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity

Miscellaneous

Severability. If any part of these Terms of Use are determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations set forth above, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision, and the remainder of the Agreement shall continue in effect. A printed version of these Terms of Use and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to these Terms of Use to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form.

Assignment. NEEP may assign this Agreement, in whole or in part, at any time with or without notice to you. You may not assign this Agreement, or any part of it, to any other party. Any attempt by you to do so is void.

Non-Waiver. The failure of NEEP to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

Relationship of Parties. No agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment is created as a result of these Terms of Use and or your use of the Site. Permission to use the Site in no way represents NEEP’s approval or endorsement of your organization or project.

Entire Agreement. Both parties agree that the Terms of Use is the complete and exclusive statement of the mutual understanding of the parties and supersedes and cancels all previous written and oral agreements, communications and other understandings relating to the subject matter of these Terms of Use, and that all modifications must be in writing signed by both parties.

Choice of Law and Forum. These Terms of Use, and your relationship with NEEP under these Terms of Use, shall be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. You and NEEP agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within Massachusetts to resolve any legal matter arising from these Terms of Use. Notwithstanding this, you agree that NEEP will still be allowed to apply for injunctive remedies (or an equivalent type of urgent legal relief) in any jurisdiction.

Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships Privacy Policy

This policy describes the way Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (“NEEP”) collects, stores, uses and protects your personal information on its web site (the “Site”). You, and any party for whom you may be acting as agent, accept this policy when you use the Site. NEEP may amend this policy at any time and without direct notification by posting a revised version on the Site. This policy is effective upon publication.

Cookies

When you access the Site, NEEP’s analytics package may place small data files called "cookies" on your computer. These cookies are designed to allow NEEP to provide you an optimal experience on the Site. These cookies are nonessential to the working of the Site, and you may block them from being placed on your machine without any loss of Site functionality. Our web server also collects anonymous information that we use to help diagnose problems with our server and to track web traffic on our site.

Information Collected

When you use the Site, NEEP collects information about devices you use to access the Site (such as hardware, operating system and device identifiers), log information such as search queries, internet protocol address, browser type, internet addresses that linked to our Site, date & time stamps, and your activities on our Site. We also collect any information you give us, such as your name, email address, mailing address, or telephone number. We may also ask you to voluntarily share information as part of an online survey.

Protection of Information

NEEP stores and processes your personal information on its computers and protects it by maintaining physical, electronic and procedural safeguards in compliance with applicable US federal and state regulations. NEEP uses computer safeguards such as firewalls and data encryption, limits physical access to its offices and files, and permits access to personal information only for those employees who require it to fulfill their job responsibilities.

Use of Information

NEEP’s primary purpose in collecting information is tracking web usage, improving the Site, and protecting the Site and its users. NEEP may also use the information to communicate with you or your representative regarding your use of the Site, violations of such use, and/or promotional information and materials regarding NEEP. Communications between you and NEEP regarding data submitted by you to the Site will not be shared with any other party without express written (or emailed) consent.

NEEP will not sell or share your personal information with any third party without your consent. NEEP may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such disclosure is necessary to comply with legal obligations. Further, we will share information if the need arises to protect the rights, property or safety of NEEP, NEEP employees, users or the public.

For analysis, we may share personal information in the aggregate, or stripped of any identifying information, with NEEP funders and project collaborators. For business purposes, we may provide personal information to trusted businesses or persons to process it for us, based on our instructions and in compliance with our Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.

Privacy Contact

If you have questions or concerns regarding this policy, please contact our IT Manager at it@neep.org.